Seeing how stubborn Lin Qian remained, Yuan Xiang felt a growing headache.
"If something really goes wrong, I'll have to burn this imprint's power and send Lin Qian out of this Small World. But it's such a shame... The human race on Soul Martial Continent might suffer because of it," Yuan Xiang thought to himself after his attempts to persuade Lin Qian failed.
If Lin Qian knew what Yuan Xiang was thinking, he would likely be even more surprised. Yuan Xiang was willing to sacrifice the humans of Soul Martial Continent and let them suffer attacks from the Swift Shadow Clan and the Invisible Clan, just to ensure Lin Qian's safety.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
While Yuan Xiang was lost in thought, a series of sharp sounds of something slicing through the air came from behind him. In an instant, figures shot past him and rushed into the illusion formation ahead.
Seeing these sudden figures in green armor disappear into the formation, Yuan Xiang's ethereal form blinked in shock. He quickly turned to Lin Qian beside him and asked, "You..."
At that moment, Lin Qian also turned his head towards Yuan Xiang, flashing a mischievous smile. "Senior, your goodwill towards me is extraordinary. I suspect we share some kind of connection. Since that's the case, why not let you witness what I can do?"
Yuan Xiang found himself speechless for a moment as he stared at Lin Qian.
The second space, the Battle Forest, was still within his control. Although he had lost the ability to manipulate the area, he could still sense what was happening inside it. Just now, he clearly detected the sudden appearance of those hundred green-armored figures—they had seemingly materialized out of nowhere.
"Could it be that those fifty-six people you brought earlier also appeared out of thin air?" Yuan Xiang asked in shock. "Is it a spatial soul tool? But that's impossible! As far as I know, Soul Martial Continent shouldn't have the capability to craft such soul tools!"
While Yuan Xiang was still trying to figure things out, a sharp cracking sound suddenly echoed from the front.
The once-solid illusion formation in front of them began to fracture, with cracks spider-webbing outward across its surface.
Boom!
A loud explosion followed, sending crystalline fragments scattering in all directions before they dissolved into pure soul energy, dispersing into the surrounding world.
With the illusion formation shattered, the landscape ahead became visible.
At the end of the forest path lay a stone plaza made of dark gray bricks that seemed incredibly sturdy. Even the sharpest of the formation's blades had failed to leave any marks on its surface, attesting to its hardness.
Bloodstains were splattered across the plaza, left by both the fallen Swift Shadow Clan members and the souls of beasts that had intruded. In the center of the plaza stood a stone gate made of the same material, with a swirling vortex in the middle, indicating a portal to another region.
At various positions around the plaza, the hundred green-armored figures—Lin Qian's men—crouched, each holding a metal plate with complex inscriptions. These plates, created by Lin Qian's Heavenly Engineering Department and crafted by the Fire Engineering Department, allowed them to neutralize the illusion formation's attacks and ultimately destroy it.
Seeing how easily Lin Qian had dismantled the formation, Yuan Xiang felt as if he were in a dream.
Even though the formation wasn't particularly formidable by his standards, Yuan Xiang had assumed it would take Lin Qian over a month to break through it, even with his guidance.
Having no desire for Lin Qian to wage war against the Swift Shadow Clan and the Invisible Clan, Yuan Xiang had no intention of helping him break the formation. He had been prepared to watch Lin Qian struggle with it—only for Lin Qian to turn around and shatter it in a heartbeat, slapping reality in his face.
"Is the third space called the Battle Plain?" Lin Qian asked, turning his gaze toward the portal ahead, then back to Yuan Xiang.
Still reeling from the shock of how quickly Lin Qian had broken the formation, Yuan Xiang was pulled back to reality by the question. "Yes, it is called the Battle Plain," Yuan Xiang replied, nodding before narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "How did you know?"
Lin Qian chuckled at Yuan Xiang's baffled expression. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it? We had the Battle Road, the Battle Forest, and now a wide-open plain behind this portal. What else would it be called?"
Yuan Xiang shook his head in disbelief, staring at Lin Qian. "You haven't even stepped into the space yet—how could you know what it looks like?"
"Senior, you're aware of everything happening in the Battle Forest, aren't you? But did you miss what happened earlier?"
"I was preoccupied with defending the World's Heart from the Swift Shadow Clan and the Invisible Clan. I didn't have the time to keep an eye on everything here."
Lin Qian's expression turned regretful as he replied, "Then you missed quite a show, Senior."
Lin Qian then briefly explained how he had used a single strike to send an enemy crashing into the illusion formation, conveniently breaking it. Although Lin Qian downplayed it as a stroke of luck, Yuan Xiang wasn't so easily convinced that things had worked out so conveniently by chance.
"My men followed the Crown Prince of Qin Imperial Dynasty into the third space, saw the vast plains, and passed the information on to me," Lin Qian continued, his tone casual.
Curious, Yuan Xiang asked, "What does the third space, the Battle Plain, look like now?"
In the past, the third space's trial had consisted of waves of soul beasts attacking, from wolf-shaped to bull-shaped creatures, all relentlessly aggressive. A single misstep could mean death.
"The Swift Shadow Clan and the Invisible Clan have completely transformed it. At least behind that portal, there are numerous structures and many guards. But right now, the Crown Prince of Qin Imperial Dynasty is serving as my vanguard, fighting the Swift Shadow Clan and the Invisible Clan on my behalf," Lin Qian explained, using the information transmitted back by his scouts.
"Senior, you know," Lin Qian continued, "the best way to deal with an enemy who wants to kill you isn't to just kill them. It's to force them to work for you until their death, making them contribute to your cause all the way to the end."
Lin Qian's golden eyes glimmered with a faint glow as he stared at the portal. The system interface in his mind projected images of Qin Feiyu locked in fierce combat with the Swift Shadow Clan and the Invisible Clan—fighting desperately, but all in service to Lin Qian.